A rosy day for Thompson Valley High's Thorne

TVHS sophomore sets state record in 100 back

THORNTON -- Jack Thorne learned a valuable lesson on Saturday afternoon. When stepping off the first-place podium after swimming the race of your life, expect to have some wobbly legs.

Something to consider for the Thompson Valley High School swimmer for the next couple of years.

Nerves, overwhelming emotion, or perhaps just flat out fatigue ... whatever it was, Thorne walked away from the podium at VMAC with Jell-o limbs attached to his torso, but a smile from ear to ear after setting a school, city and classification record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.78 seconds.

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Likely, it was all three elements that caused for such a scene, but Thorne left no doubt in anyone's mind who might rule that race for the next couple of years.

"I've just worked so hard this season. I've thought I could do this since October, so I've been working at it since then. I'm just really happy," Thorne said after the meet, where he helped Thompson Valley to a fourth-place team finish. "I was happy with just breaking 50, but breaking 50 and winning is an added bonus. It was just a really fun race."

Thompson Valley High School's Jack Thorne was all smiles Saturday after capturing the Class 4A 100 backstroke state title at the state swimming championships in Thornton. Thorne's time of 49.78 seconds at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center was a classification record, as well.
(David R. Jennings)

Thorne, a sophomore, crushed Air Academy's Devon Davis' hopes of two state titles on the day, and the back proved to be a phenomenal race. Davis, a senior, had won the 100 fly title earlier in the day and was seeded first in the back. Separated by almost eight-tenths in prelims, Thorne ended up beating Davis by .29 seconds -- with both dropping considerable time.

His coach, Dale Leonhardt, said there was definitely a strategy that he thought would help be to Thorne's advantage, and did it ever work out.

"That IM was his best by a couple of seconds. I told Jack he just had to extend his underwaters and be with him, because he swims faster than Devon," said Leonhardt, the first-year coach of the Eagles. "That's what won it for him, that last breakout. In the past, he's not gone that extra couple of kicks under water. This time it worked."

"I don't think I could have done what I did without (Davis) and I being neck and neck the whole race," said Thorne, who finished second in the backstroke last year. "I came off the last wall and was like, I don't know which way this is going to go. I just gave it my all."

That state claim more than made up for a second place finish in the 200 individual medley, where he was slated as the top seed for finals. Two lanes over, Tyler Lis of Silver Creek dropped 4.2 seconds off his prelim time to corral that title (1:54.46). Thorne still managed to drop to 1:55.02 in that race, which cushioned the blow of not finishing first.

Places mean points, but Thompson Valley as a team finished about as high as they possibly could have, with everyone to thank. Its 194 points were behind only Air Academy (a dominant performance with 324), D'Evelyn (239) and Coronado (233) -- with all of those schools having many more swims.

Jacob von der Lippe jumped a few spots to win the consolation heat of the IM (2:01.99) and finished fifth in the breaststroke (1:01.33); C.T. Bosse moved from the tail end of the 100 freestyle up to 12th (49.77); and the 200 and 400 free relays, which had the common elements of Bosse, Tory Hass and Alex Austin, also won the consolation heats.

Thompson Valley High School's Tanner Williams performs one of his three finals dives Saturday at VMAC in Thornton. The senior placed third in the state, one of four Eagles in the top eight in the event at the Class 4A state meet.
(David R. Jennings)

For Tanner Williams, his score of 458.70 was better than last year's second place total. He started his three-dive finals with a 50, and his third one came in at 52 -- capping a fine career for the senior.

"I was happy with my all-around diving, and I know there's areas where I can improve. Consistency is key, and I was a little shaky on consistency today," Williams said. "I've done that (final) dive better, but it was a good way to end my career. I was just having fun.

"Getting all four of us in the medals, that's pretty cool and it just shows how good our coach is. Honestly, we all improved tremendously, improved our scores by 50 points at one point or another. I'm excited to see these younger guys just keep going up on the podium."

"Amon (McCrary) deserves so much more recognition for what he does," Leonhardt added. "I guarantee you we'll have four in the finals again next year.

"We smoked on the relays. We had personal bests just boom, boom, boom, all over the place. We had two good weeks of taper, and it all came together. We swam with emotion and heart, and you can't beat that combination."

Mountain View made the most out of its four consolation swims, as well. The Mountain Lions set a school mark in the 400 free relay, with Sean Kemper, Colton Kasper, Anthony Gagnon and Nick Rubba coming in at 3:25.17. Head coach Maria Strait gave senior Tanner Batterton a go in the 200 free relay (1:35.59), and Rubba used that break to win the consolation heat of the 100 backstroke (55.36).

"They added some time in the 200 free but they still put up a good race, and for me, Tanner has worked for that chance all year long," Strait said. "Nick proved to himself what great capabilities he has, and proved to his teammates, too. That's a nice glory to have, to walk out of this building ninth in the state."

While Davis and the Kadets won the meet, Broomfield's Martin Wallace and Estes Park's Forrest Beesley were double-winners. Wallace took Alex Nickell's 500 freestyle 4A record off the board with a 4:31.86. Coronado's 200 free relay team also set a 4A mark (1:26.66).